[English intro: I asked some friends and acquaintances to sum up the year in film and television, in the form of a list, highlighting 5 to 10 movies, events, people or phenomena that made an impact on them in 2006. I received lists of all kinds - long and short, humorous and grave, in both Swedish and English (all entries appear in their original language). Some stuck to the "5 to 10" suggestion, some ran with it. And some even included music related stuff just for the hell of it. It's all popular culture, people!]

Please feel free to add comments in both English and Swedish to this post.

This is my last post of 2006, so Happy New Year, wherever you are!

***

Jesse Thorn

Season four of The WireAfter everyone thought the show was a goner, HBO comes through at the last minute. The excitement interests the media, and all of a sudden the best show on television (ever) gets the attention it deserves.

BoratI'm not entirely convinced the film is not offensive. But boy is it fucking funny.

30 Rock & Studio 60Who knew that the former would be hilarious and the latter unspeakably awful? Every good thing about Tina Fey, every bad thing about Aaron Sorkin.

Animation Is Dead... Again!Not so fast. After closing the last of their 2D animation studios a couple of years ago, Disney, along with all the other major animation studios, decided to dedicate their resources toward emulating Pixar’s success – with less than stellar results. 2006 has seen the opening of the floodgates, along with a decidedly tepid batch of trendy 3D animated fare. The results? Same as before – crappy stories are still crap, regardless of the technical means by which they are produced. Earlier this year Disney announced the purchase of Pixar and named Pixar president John Lasseter the new president of Disney feature animation. In a deliciously ironic twist, Lasseter soon announced that one of his first orders of business would be to bring back the traditional 2D animation department. Using Pixar’s relatively sterling track record as a template, Lasseter hopefully can restore the studio’s reputation by taking control from the executives and accountants and focusing on quality instead of quantity.

Cruise and GibsonHow does one gauge the hypocrisy of the typical Hollywood studio? Paramount declared they did the “right” thing in severing ties with one of their biggest cash cows earlier this year. Whispers of Tom Cruise’s waning popularity due to bizarre television appearances seemed to indicate that his leash was becoming increasingly shorter. Then, on the heels of the lukewarm reception given M:I3, Paramount decided the time was right to make the move and say goodbye to one of the biggest moneymakers in the history of the studio. Would that have been the case, however, if the M:I3 box office was more along the lines of Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ? Gibson, of course, has his own personal demons to battle and now that Apocalypto seems destined for a quick exit from theaters, will his newfound studio support also go up in smoke? Well, it sure didn’t take Disney-owned ABC long to cancel their contract with Gibson’s company to produce the miniseries about the Holocaust. One thing seems readily apparent – the tolerance of a mega-star’s questionable behavior is directly proportionate to said star’s current earning power.

Altman and NykvistIt’s always sad to lose one industry giant over the course of the past year. Losing two of the brightest stars ever to shine in the galaxy of cinema make for a very, very dark year indeed. Like all artists, both gentlemen balanced career lulls with stratospheric achievements – and both produced a remarkable body of work that will forever provide testimony to their distinguished careers. Altman once said, “Filmmaking is a chance to live many lifetimes”. As an audience, it was our great fortune to be able to embrace and cherish each and every one of those “lifetimes”. Talents like these two don’t come along very often and when they do, it’s sometimes easy to take them for granted. Nykvist, I think, exhibited distaste for the direction that much of today’s cinema had taken. ”Today we make everything so complicated. The lighting, the cameras, the acting. It has taken me thirty years to arrive at simplicity.” The genesis of such beautiful simplicity was captured by his unsurpassed collaborations with Bergman. While it’s difficult to overstate the impact that each has had on aspiring filmmakers, it’s downright impossible to overstate their collective genius.

Lynch, a Cow, and Inland EmpireWhat to make of David Lynch’s latest foray into his subconscious? From its first appearance at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year to its hot-ticket status at year-end U.S. festivals, Inland Empire has divided audiences and critics like no Lynch film before. Comparisons to earlier works have generally proven fruitless if for no other reason than Lynch’s near-abandonment of narrative in favor of the more abstract introspection on display. But what’s really exciting about this new chapter in Lynch’s oeuvre is the newfound freedom he’s experienced that has enabled him to again shatter the artistic constrictions to which he’s frequently found himself shackled and the positioning of himself at the forefront of a new era of filmmaking. Eschewing the limitations and constraints of film for the endless possibilities and improvisational aspects of digital video seem much more suited to Lynch’s current mindset and the results are, by all reports, indicative of a reinvigorated director. The freedom Lynch has experienced with IE has also found other outlets as well, with Lynch handling the marketing and distribution aspects himself as well. A playful Lynch even found time to spearhead a traffic-stopping “for your consideration” awards plea (complete with a cow) on Laura Dern’s behalf. An early criticism being voiced is that Lynch seemingly included pretty much all the footage he shot. For my money, a three-hour “David Lynch greatest hits collection” seems like a pretty good bet (and just in time for Christmas, too!).

YouTubeLess than two years old, this juggernaut has not only become a major player on the web, there seems to be no end in sight to its growth and potential. Formerly alienated television networks are now dropping copyright suits and embracing the technology by offering their support as sponsors and partners (at the price of sharing ad revenue, natch). The YouTube masterminds (three former PayPal employees) showed foresight and savvy beyond their years in identifying and filling a niche that allowed the global community to participate in video sharing. The fact that Google recently purchased this startup for $1.65 billion helps put the YouTube phenomenon in perspective. One of their ambitious goals is to offer every music video ever created by the end of next year. Not bad for a little startup getting set to celebrate its second birthday.

The Films I Haven’t Seen Yet but I’m Already Disappointed Award: The Fountain, X-Men Last Stand, The Good German, The Good Shepherd, Marie Antoinette, The Black Dahlia, Inland Empire, Strangers With Candy, Babel

Best Old-Timey Magician Movie Award: The Illusionist, no wait, The Prestige, oh hell I dunno...

Most Memorable Film Going Experience Award: The Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan midnight madness premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival with 1200 other lucky souls

Region 1 DVD Releases of the Year Award: Eric Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales; The Conformist; Late Spring; On Dangerous Ground

Most Disappointing DVD Transfer of a Great Movie Award: The Naked Spur

Best Movie made by Starbucks Without (!!!) any Product Placement (that I could see) Award: Akeelah and the Bee

The Get Over Yourself Award: Laurence Fishburne and Aaron Sorkin and The Killers

Been There Done That Award: Christopher Guest

Most Anticipated New Book that I Won’t Likely Read Award: Thomas Pynchon’s Against the Day

The Isn’t there a Best Before Date on Sequels Award: Clerks II, Superman Returns, Rocky Balboa

Best Movie Line Award: “But I Like the Cookie” – Steve Carrell as Hammy the Squirrel in Over the Hedge

Best TV Line Award: “Who’s Normal Now America” – Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan with face tattoo on 30 Rock

Best Song Lyric Award: Neko Case, Margaret vs. Pauline: “Two girls ride the blue line. Two girls walk down the same street. One left her sweater sittin' on the train, The other lost three fingers at the cannery. Everything's so easy for Pauline”

Best Witty Song Lyric Award: Arctic Monkeys, A Certain Romance: “There's only music, so that there's new ringtones”Scott Kelly is a film critic. He lives in Toronto.

***

Jasper Sharp

The Tragic Death of Shohei ImamuraShohei Imamura (1926-2006) was the director of such classics of Japanese cinema as Insect Woman, Black Rain and The Eel. Imamura was always one of my favourite Japanese directors; in fact I can credit a good part of my interest in Japanese cinema to an early encounter with his 1982 Cannes Palme d’or winner The Ballad of Narayama in London’s sorely-missed Scala cinema way back in the late 80s. Though his last film, Warm Water Under a Red Bridge in 2001 was something of a disappointment, he will nevertheless be sorely missed by this viewer in particular.

The Lost World of Friese-Green/Shepperton Babylon/Silent Britain/Holmfirth HollywoodHallelujah! A humungous thank you to whoever it was at BBC4 and the BFI who decided to celebrate the neglected area of British silent cinema with such verve and in such depth, and to Matthew Sweet, from whose revelatory book Shepperton Babylon a large proportion of the series was drawn. All of these documentaries were brilliant, as were the films Picadilly, Hindle Wakes, and A Cottage on Dartmoor that accompanied them. The Friese-Green series in particular was an epiphany.

Little Birds (dir. Takeharu Watai)This powerful documentary shows the 2003 US-British invasion of Iraq in all its raw, unsanitised ugliness – really deserves to be seen far more widely.

Mikio Naruse box set: Sound of the Mountain/Flowing/Repast (Eureka Masters of Cinema Series)I can't believe it, a Western company finally daring to take the plunge and release something from Japan’s Golden Age of Cinema not by Ozu, Kurosawa or Mizoguchi. Further proof that Japanese cinema in the 50s was the finest in the world!

Nippon Connection Festival, FrankfurtAlways a great festival, but this year seeing the three generations of pink film directors represented by Koji Wakamatsu, Hisayasu Sato and Yuji Tajiri discuss ‘Sex and Politics in Japanese Cinema’ was a unique opportunity.

Rediscovering Richard StanleyI hadn’t seen Dust Devil since its original UK video release, but seeing it on the big screen at Bristol’s Compass of Horror festival really showed it in its best light, as did its director's bemusing banter between screenings. But the icing on the cake must be the Subversive Cinema boxed set of the film which included three absolutely jaw-dropping documentaries alongside it. I really hope Richard gets to make another film very soon.

The Constant GardenerI know it wasn’t really 2006, but Fernando Meirelles’ Kenya-set conspiracy thriller pretty much delivered everything I want from a movie.

Casino RoyaleA lifelong Bond fan, the franchise had really lost its way by the last film. I am very happy that the inspired casting of Daniel Craig has put it back on to a completely different track.

Jasper Sharp is a freelance writer and independent researcher based in Bath, UK.

The Passing of Robert AltmanOn High in DV Tomorrows: Inland EmpireThe Resurrection of Army of ShadowsSpike Lee's Double Header: When the Levees Broke and Inside Man¡Que Viva Mexico!: Battle in Heaven and RománticoExposing Oscar's Sham: Catherine O'Hara in For Your ConsiderationCartoon Bliss: Happy Feet and Monster HouseDexter and Michael Mann Do MiamiHumanizing the Other: Clint Eastwood's Letter from Iwo JimaCinematographer as Auteur: Emmanuel Lubezki's Children of Men

Let’s Roll ‘EmAmid much hand wringing about it being “too soon,” Hollywood finally released not one, but two examinations of events that took place on 9/11/01. Surprisingly, Oliver Stone took the more classical approach in World Trade Center, with Britisher Paul Greengrass opting for a “You Are There” vérité style in United 93. Both worked on their own terms – if you could bear to look.

Viral RacismBorat expressed his own view of 9/11: the attack was perpetrated by the Jews – you know, the ones that start all the wars per Mel Gibson. Fortunately, Borat’s views were expressed in character by the satirist Sacha Baron Cohen, not while taking a field sobriety test on a Malibu freeway. Later, when Michael Richards (erroneously) thought that being on a comedy club stage would excuse his “N-word” tirade, he (erroneously) claimed his own Judaism as supposed proof that he couldn’t really be racist. The results of all this: Borat became a controversial smash, Gibson’s Apocalypto opened to some strong reviews and okay box office, and Richards’ career imploded. The lesson: if you must insult a race or religion, try not to let your public meltdown become a viral video.

OK Go on YouTubeA more benign and much more entertaining viral video was OK Go’s single-shot performance of their song Here It Goes Again. With a locked-down camera, four treadmills and ingenious choreography tailored to the non-pro dancing skills of the band members, this engaging music video was a refreshing answer to 25 years of complaints about hyperactive “MTV-style” editing.

Reality – The Director’s CutBy this point, everyone knows that most so-called reality shows are heavily dependent upon pre-planning, selective editing and the on-camera participants’ eagerness for face time. This negates the supposed veritas of the strain of shows that were spawned by MTV’s The Real World over the last dozen years. In fact, MTV’s most recent efforts seem blatantly scripted (see, if you can stomach them, Parental Control, Next, or Date My Mom). But there’s another strain that, while still heavily manipulated, at least require their participants to have talents beyond (though often including) exhibitionism, back-stabbing and over-dramatizing. Project Runway and Top Chef are basically American Idol for fashion designers and chefs, respectively. While there’s plenty of room for drama and personality clashes, no one gets very far in the competition without stepping up to a series of often fascinating challenges. Unlike Idol, these shows are truly made in the editing room, whittling endless hours of footage down to 40-odd addictive minutes per episode.

Cinematic SurprisesI haven’t seem many (maybe any) masterpieces in the cinema this year, which may say more about my depressingly sporadic attendance than the failure of the world’s filmmakers. Either way, I’ve had to take my pleasures where I could find them. I certainly didn’t expect to find much in a modest, formulaic teen dance/romance called Step Up, but choreographer Anne Fletcher brought a compelling combination of energy and grace to her directorial debut. Shot on gritty Baltimore locations, the film made up for its pedestrian plot with some surprisingly well-observed details of character and milieu amid dynamic dance sequences.

Movie Comedy: Little Miss SunshineAs the title implies, this was a ray of light in a dismal summer movie season. Classic road movie plotting with great comic characters, some surprisingly poignant turns and a slew of strong performances. It says something about how lost Hollywood has become that an indie movie sported the best execution of the Hollywood formula this year: cute kid, big song-and-dance ending, wacky characters and highway hijinks. Pitch perfect and pure fun.

Movie Drama: The DepartedOnce I recovered from the whiplash of going into a Scorsese movie expecting dark and heavy, only to get outlandish comic bombast, I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. About fifteen years after Hong Kong cinema made a splash on this side of the Pacific, an American finally captured the high melodrama mixed with intense action and violence that guys like John Woo did so well in the late '80s and early '90s. I thought I was sick of Nicholson playing Nicholson, I thought I was sick of DiCaprio playing tough... I actually thought I was sick of movies, period - but this movie made me well again.

Television - One HourThis was the year I finally caught up with Veronica Mars, which, once delved into on DVD, became a 10-week ride through the first two seasons before plunging into the only recently up-to-par season three. Not only does this show combine two of my favorite genres - teen angst drama and detective mystery - but it does so with the savvy and humor of its most obvious influence: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Beyond the great writing and archetypal characters, this show has TV's best secret weapon in Kristen Bell, who should win every award for which she's eligible as far as I'm concerned.

Television - Half-HourThis year The Office officially came into its own as not merely a surprisingly decent adaptation of the UK classic, but a classic in the making all its own. While the writing and the performances carry the comic load, injecting subversive humor into the most mundane of all possible settings, the show excels at finding small moments for genuine emotion amidst the silliness. This allows Michael, an otherwise insufferable jackass, to be human and even likable at times, without sacrificing the idiocy that makes him so endlessly funny to watch fail. Meanwhile, the show overachieved dramatically in the romance department, offering not only an unexpected love triangle with Michael at the center, but a wonderfully complicated and painfully real resolution to the Pam-Jim tryst. I assumed this relationship would either be consummated (which would potentially kill the show) or be put in an endless "will-they-won't-they" loop and bore us with repetition -- instead, the writers found a clever way to keep the characters apart and the show fresh, which has paid huge dividends already in this new season in the form of the "Stamford Branch" story arc that allowed the show to introduce some great new characters.

Entertainer of the Year: Alec BaldwinThis guy went from being the funniest thing on SNL to the funniest thing in The Departed (with stiff competition from Mark Wahlberg) to the funniest thing on 30 Rock, which is actually saying a lot considering Tracy Morgan's doing the best work of his career on the same show. It seems everywhere you look this year, Alec Baldwin is being awesome. We all knew he could do this, ever since stealing Glengarry Glenn Ross from the legendary Jack Lemmon with one scene - I guess it just took the right projects and the right attitude. Formerly burdened with everything from a superstar complex (this guy was penciled in for franchise status back when he did The Hunt for Red October) to a bad case of the Hollywood Politico Disease (nothing funny about ranting about the President from your palatial estate), Baldwin finally either loosened up or lost his marbles - whatever the case, we are all the beneficiaries.

Not only did Baldwin stand out in the superstar cast of The Departed, but he's proving to be an integral part of what makes 30 Rock - a show I never thought I'd love, but do - so good. Tracy is crazy and funny, but you can only do so much of that before it wears thin; Tina Fey is the put-upon straight woman who sets up everyone around her, which is necessary but doesn't carry a show; it is Baldwin, who can simultaneously send up the pompous corporate bigwig like no one else (he was the only good thing in last year's Fun with Dick and Jane, in which he did the same thing), and yet still find some humanity in a seemingly impenetrable jerk. Just as we find ourselves liking Steve Carrell's Michael Scott in spite of the overwhelming evidence against him, we find ourselves liking Jack Donaghy, and even agreeing with him sometimes. Though it's not romantic (and hopefully never will be), the strange, almost touching relationship that is emerging between Jack and Fey's Liz Lemon is what makes an otherwise funny but frivolous show compelling.

Matt Belknap works in motion pictures in Los Angeles. He is also head honcho of the alternative comedy forum A Special Thing.

The Opening of the National Library in Montréal!Thousands upon thousands of DVDs; art films, cheap exploitation, classics from around the world, animation and a particularily huge selection of 40's/50's American cinema. Everything you'll ever need to live and more... for free!

Hitchcock Retrospective on National TV Late at Night Every Sunday!I can't believe it took me so long to get deep into Hitch's work, especially since I'm a Brian De Palma freak. This highly flawed retrospective contained none of his early British films except the original The Man Who Knew Too Much (which I missed anyway) and presented all the films in full screen format, dubbed in french! But I couldn't care less because I've quite simply discovered my favorite artist yet, all mediums confounded.

YouTube!Even though the odor of pathetic exhibitionism and ugly, mean stupitdity waits at every corner of this site, it's become one of the best, most surprising (I never thought I'd see Robert Pete Williams play the blues and talk about the murder he comitted in front of his family and friends!) resources on the Internet.

John Huston Retrospective at Montréal's Cinématheque!The Asphalt Jungle, The Treasure of Sierra Madre and my favorite, Fat City, are masterpieces. Not much filler in the rest of his filmography either, except, of course, Phobia, for which I feel somewhat responsible because of my Canadian heritage. Best surprise: Reflections in a Golden Eye, an insane, pulpy and sexy melodrama about repressed feelings and sexuality... and I was lucky enough to see a gorgeous Black & Gold print.

The Wire - season 4Deadwood - season 3The DepartedThe Good ShepherdUnited 93Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of KazakhstanBrickDave Chapelle's Block Party The PrestigeFateless

Jeff Vorndam is a film critic. Several of his capsule reviews for the films mentioned above can be found here.

måndag 4 december 2006

Reilly: Oh, you know what else I've seen which is going to be amazing, which is going to blow your mind — Paul Thomas Anderson's next movie ["There Will Be Blood"].

MTV: You've seen it?

Reilly: Well, I haven't seen the whole thing. I've seen like an hour and 20 minutes, and it is just incredible. If you're a fan of his movies, it's really going to blow your mind. It's such a departure from everything he's done before, but it's so good and there's no one in it that he's worked with before.